Review: Midsommar
Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster, tells the tale of a girl named Dani (Florence Pugh) who undergoes a horrific loss and as a result becomes emotionally distant. One day Dani’s boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor) invites her to come to a once in a lifetime festival with him and his friends at a remote village in Sweden, which she agrees. Little do they know once they arrive to the festival not everything seems to be as pleasant as it appears to be, as the group slowly learns of the festival’s darker motives.
This is the second film from Ari Aster, who also directed 2018’s Hereditary. Hereditary I thought was a pretty great film the more I thought about it. It had great cinematography, a fantastic lead performance from Toni Collette, great atmosphere, and a lot of unsettling imagery and themes. It’s not as fantastic as many critics claim it to be, but for a directorial debut it’s a pretty impressive film to start off with. Now Aster is back with Midsommar, and much like Hereditary this film was another well thought out success from the director. IT’s not necessarily as creepy as the film’s trailers market it to be and it also shares many of the same problems I had with Aster’s last film, but it’s still nonetheless a incredibly well made film to check out.
The biggest aspect that this film has over others this year is its cinematography. The cinematography is absolutely incredibly to watch. Every shot in this film is so beautifully composed I really hope this film gets recognized for it come next awards season. The film’s editing was also incredibly clean and creative. There were plenty of great transitions and cool effect done to emulate the effects of hallucinogenics. Most everyone in the cast gave a terrific performance, especially Florence Pugh who gives one of the better performances of the year. The music was unique and interesting and Aster’s direction was once again incredibly methodical and detailed.
The biggest gripe I have with this film is the pacing. Clocking in at two and a half hours it really takes a while for the film to get going. There was also a subplot that happens in the beginning of the film that hardly gets addressed throughout the film, making it seemingly pointless. Will Poulter is in the film serving as the comic relief and a lot of his lines were either incredibly unfunny, incredibly annoying, or both. The film is also being marketed as a unique horror film, but for a horror film it isn’t very creepy. The fact that most of the film takes place in broad daylight with very bright colors ultimately takes away from the creepiness of the film.
Overall this is not quite as good as Hereditary was, but this was still a great movie to check out. If you’re familiar with Ari Aster’s films and loved his last film then you’ll no doubt enjoy this film as well. This film will probably be as divisive as Hereditary was as it’s clearly not for everyone, but this was one of the better films to come out so far in 2019. I’m very glad I got to check it out and I highly recommend you check it out and see for yourself.
Final Verdict: 8/10